I have seen many letters to the editor expressing thanks for what OIFR responders did to help the person writing or someone close to them. As a reader of these letters, I always found them to be thoughtful and gracious and well said.

I have discovered that it’s different when it’s someone I love whose life has been saved. I now understand why so many people want to express publicly their appreciation for our responders. My son-in-law was visiting with his family and suddenly fell to the floor in one of the cabins at West Beach. His wife, my daughter, called 911. They responded immediately and MedEvac’d him to St. Joseph’s who then helicoptered him to Harbor View in Seattle. He had a ruptured brain aneurysm. They performed the surgery and he is fine with no physical or cognitive deficits.

The quick, professional, competent, effective care he received by OIFR responders was critical to his coming out of this with no lasting effects. I’d like to thank Bryce Hamilton, Rita Harvey, Seth Ibarra, Pat Ayers and RJ Myers for saving his life. We are very fortunate to have responders here with the expertise and compassion that they demonstrate virtually every day.

Art Lange

Orcas Island